Thereafter

If you haven't yet had the pleasure of finding the work of Skylar Camp you have been missing out! Skylar has been one of the best parts of my IG feed for a little over a year. Her honest perspective on her post faith journey has been beyond refreshing and healing for me to witness. On today's episode she walks us through her story of finding herself in her most authentic form. From a child of purity culture married before college, to embracing her polyamorist and bisexual identity. Come along for this beautiful story as we all get reminded to love and embrace our full and honest selves! 

You can follow Skylar on Instagram: @SkylarCampWrites

Today we get to share an incredible conversation we had with Luke Wilson. 

Luke is one of the leading voices talking about the discrimination of LGBTQ+ students and private religious universities. He is a part of a class action known as The REAP (https://www.thereap.org/) which is looking to end the mistreatment of LGBTQ+ students at schools who receive federal tax payer funding. 

Luke holds a BA in English, summa cum laude, from Liberty University, an MA in English from McMaster University, and an MTS from Vanderbilt University. He is a PhD Candidate in Comparative Studies at Florida Atlantic University, a Dissertation Fellow through the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, and a Sessional Lecturer at University of Toronto.

You can read Luke's piece in The Advocate (mentioned in the episode) HERE: https://www.advocate.com/commentary/2021/5/13/gay-man-says-he-was-tormented-liberty-university-now-hes-suing

The interview Luke did on Kevin Garcia's A Tiny Revolution Podcast (mentioned in the episode) can be found HERE: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6Qtmzf3G0LGxwslKzRFUkt?si=sZVBiGrhSna10ghH2s05jg&dl_branch=1

Follow Luke on Instagram

@LukeSlamDunkWilson

Follow Luke on Twitter

@Wilson_fw

We mentioned our audio producer Cody Coffey in this episode and dedicated this episode to his recently departed feline partner in crime. If you feel like throwing Cody some cash for all he does for the show you can Venmo him @codywcoffey. 

This week we sit down with Elad Nehorai. Elad has spent most of his adult life creating and nurturing communities. From the time he started a small online arts magazine (before such a thing was common) in college, to his efforts as an online marketer for startups, to his viral campaign "I Have A Therapist," to his work with Hevria, a community for creative Jews, and Torah Trumps Hate, a community for progressive orthodox Jews, he cares about nothing more than connecting people who are desperately looking for a community that doesn't exist in the physical world. 

After spending over a decade in Hasidic Judaism Elad is reimagining his faith. We invite you to listen in, as we explore his journey as a creative finding a new path in his life thereafter. 

Visit Elad's Website: http://eladnehorai.com/

Read his writing on Hevria: https://hevria.com/elad/

Read his latest work on Substack: https://eladnehorai.substack.com/

If you would like to connect with Elad please feel free to email us at [email protected] and we would love to connect you with him via email!

In the interview Elad mentioned a book called Leaving the Fold by Marlene Winell which I accidentally confuse with Empty the Pews by Chrissy Stroop. Here are links to both of those books for those that are interested. 

Leaving the Fold: A Guide for Former Fundamentalists and Others Leaving Their Religion - https://www.amazon.com/Leaving-Fold-Former-Fundamentalists-Religion/dp/1933993235

Empty the Pews: Stories of Leaving the Church - https://www.amazon.com/Empty-Pews-Stories-Leaving-Church/dp/1946093076

Today we are SO excited to share our conversation with Abby Norman. We sat down with Abby to talk about her journey of faith and her new book You Can Talk To God Like That. We enjoyed every minute of this interview. Prepare to fall in love with Abby and her incredibly authentic approach to faith and life!

Abby is a writer, blogger, speaker, and licensed local pastor in the United Methodist Church. Her writing has been featured in Huffington Post, SheLoves Magazine, and The Mudroom. Abby lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her college sweetheart, two daughters, and a very bad dog.

You can Order Abby's Book HERE: http://tinyurl.com/rrx49h6p

Visit Her Website: abbynorman.net

Follow Her on Twitter: @abbynormansays

Follow Her on Instagram: @abbynormansays

Like her on Facebook: @abbynormansays

Born and raised in rural south Georgia, Winston Bolen grew up expecting to be a Southern Baptist preacher or conservative politician but over time things changed. Leaving the church in the late 90s, his former views were blown away by the myriad variety of fellow geeks and weirdos that brought different life perspectives to his online fandoms. The internet allowed him access to a world outside his humble upbringings, helping shape this bi, poly, atheist into a crusader for all things progressive. With the same fire and brimstone drawl of a southern preacher, he has found himself back where he started: fighting the good fight to win hearts and minds, just on a very different team.

Winston makes his living as a project manager but in his heart, he is an entertainer. On any given day, he is a comic artist, photographer, writer, singer, or Burlesque emcee. Within his community he’s a political activist, husband, boyfriend, and father.

You can reach out to Winston for commissions for art OR  to talk about, well, anything!

You can find Winston online at the links below:

Winston's main art gallery

Winstons Burlesque Troop we talked about can be found on FB here

https://www.facebook.com/Bible.Belt.Burlesque

Today we sit down with Meghan Crozier to talk a little bit about her deconstruction journey. Meghan is a writer and teacher who began writing on her website ThePursuingLife.com before even finding the deconstruction community. As a progressive Christian writer, she started her page as a way to seek spiritual growth, but realized that she often had more questions about faith than answers. Meghan's pages (across the web) have now become places to wrestle with those questions, try to understand what spiritual growth looks like, and welcome others in every stage of their journey. Through her work and the online communities she's creating she's exploring topics like faith deconstruction, spirituality, equality, justice, culture, mental health, and religion.

Follow Meghan on Twitter @ThePursuingLife

Find Meghan on FB @ThePursuingLife

Follow on Instagram @ThePursuingLife

Join her group on FB HERE

Follow Meghan on Clubhouse (For real, Meghan's Clubhouse rooms are the best! If you need a Clubhouse invite send us a DM on instagram and we'll hook you up!)

Today we have an AMAZING episode for you! We sat down with the one and only Dr. Katie Blake, and WOW what an incredible conversation. Katie has a Ph.D. in Social Psychology and is also a 500-hour Masters-level yoga instructor. With 13 years of experience in teaching psychology and yoga she brings a depth of experience to the online community she's supporting and educating. Visit her website at DrKatieBlake.com to find out more about her work. 

Don't forget to follow her on Instagram @DrKatieBlake

And on Twitter @DrKatieBlake

Things mentioned on the episode:

Carol Dweck: Check out Carol Dweck's TED Talk on growth mindset here.

How God Changes Your Brain: Breakthrough Findings from a Leading Neuroscientist

Polysecure: Attachment, Trauma and Consensual Nonmonogamy

The White Denim Jacket: a fable about having the courage to leave - by Kevin Garcia

Today is a super special episode for me (Cortland) personally! If you've listened to most of our episodes you know we've talked about the Dirty Rotten Church Kids podcast on many occasions. Beyond producing an amazing podcast DRCK has created a pretty incredible online community for those who are going through all kinds of faith change. 

Today we're sharing a few conversations with people I've met through that community. In our first episode Josh and I talked about how scary it can be to feel like you are going through these changes alone. The good news is you don't have to! There are so many amazing networks and communities popping up online and the one DRCK has started has become like a second home. 

This is a long episode and I honestly wanted to make it even longer. 

There is at least one more interview that I recorded that we couldn't get on this episode because of technical difficulties. (But be on the look out for that interview as a bonus episode soon!)

If you're interested in being a part of the Dirty Rotten Church Kids Discord Community you can subscribe to their Patreon here https://www.patreon.com/dirtyrottenchurchkids?fan_landing=true

If you're not following their instagram you're missing out on some of the best memes on the web follow them here

https://www.instagram.com/dirtyrottenchurchkids/?hl=en

Listen to DRCK on spotify

https://open.spotify.com/show/3levDx8vCqUO0blSvAoIG5

Listen on Apple Podcasts (and if you love it leave a review!)

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dirty-rotten-church-kids/id1487820978

A HUGE thank you to Madison, Ri, Rob, Rebecca, and Buffy who were interviewed on this episode! 

A big thank you to Jaymz who's interview we couldn't get on this episode but you'll be hearing soon!

Lastly, this episode was not easy to edit together. It's only here (only slightly late) because of the incredible work of our Executive producer Cody Coffey! Buy him a beer to say thanks by sending him a couple bucks on Venmo @CodyWCoffey

This week on the pod we got to sit down with Levi Rogers, who is an old and dear friend of ours! Levi has an MFA from Antioch University Los Angeles and a Bachelors of English from the University of Utah. In July of 2018 Rogers attended The Tin House Summer Workshop and is currently working with the new broadside literary journal Meow Meow Pow Pow as a blog editor. He’s published essays, poetry, and reviews in Entropy, Sojourners, Lunch Ticket, Drunk Monkeys, Akashic Books, Hoot, Daily Coffee News, and Devour Magazine, amongst others. He owns and runs a coffee roasting company, La Barba Coffee, in Salt Lake City, Utah, where he lived for the last eight years before moving to Portland, Oregon. He lives with his wife Cat, his daughter Evangeline, his dog Amelie, and two cats–Chicken and Waffles.

Utah! A Novel is his first book and is available in 2021 from Atmosphere Press. He is also working on a book about faith, depression, and belonging called All We Can Hope For in This Dark and Beautiful World: Memoirs on Belonging

Connect with Levi at his website https://levirogersisafraud.com/

Pre-order Levi's novel Utah : https://levirogersisafraud.com/books/